As I boarded the plane this morning, I notice a small cargo vehicle trailing what looks like two silver metal closed-top skips. What with all the sunshine, my imagination cartwheels away before I can stop myself. What if the cargo was some precious pooch going on a posh holiday? Or perhaps it’s the latest life-saving drug as part of a clinical trial? Or, more amazing still, may be it’s an organ for a loved one being transported under careful climate control?

The sight of the vehicle and its cargo reminds me of the mental baggage we all carry. The habit-forming kind with which we’ve grown comfortable and by which we navigate our daily lives both at work and at home.

What if…

Let’s play a game. What if some of the things you believe in are simply not true?

Postpone decisions until the last responsible moment
Most of us are desperate to decide things early. This may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as a desire to please, be helpful towards others and/or the simple need to feel in control, even when we’re not. By embracing the discomfort of not knowing and using Real Options Thinking, you can keep options open for as long as is valuable. After all, why decide now when you don’t have to? The secret to making informed decisions is to wait until the last responsible moment, by which we mean the point in time when the necessary criteria and/or constraints determine when a decision needs to be made.

Think ‘AND’ instead of ‘EITHER OR’
I’ve noticed that the most successful and satisfied people have an open mind and postpone judgment. They recognise breakthrough ideas are those that combine ‘a AND b’ as opposed to forcing both parties to resign to an ‘EITHER a OR b’ solution. Remember, you can always have your cake and eat it AND you’ll need to exercise to work it off. Apply the Logical Thinking Process such as the Intermediate Objectives Map and Conflict Resolution Diagram to create a WIN-WIN solution for everyone involved.

Focus on value first then value/cost and retain that focus
It’s tempting to do everything at once. Especially when there’s a deadline and too much to do. To prevent your endeavours from wheel-spinning to a standstill, prioritise by value/cost, level the workload and minimise the work-in-progress. Pop quiz: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time! Better still, opt for elephant carpaccio, delivering end-to-end solutions that add value as thin slices. This ‘thin slice’ approach also minimises risks and surfaces issues earlier by testing integration points early. (Note: No elephants were harmed in the making of this analogy.)

Think Different

How will you change the way you think and behave today?

‘Real love stories never have endings’ – Richard Bach

A Classic Tale of Love and Hate

On 13 January 2010 at 12.10 precisely, my friend Jack calls me to announce he’s resigned with a new job ready to start in March. Jack has been unhappy in his old job for over a decade. You’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘That’s your typical Man-Gets-Paid-To-Do-A-Job-He-Hates story. So what?’ and you’d be right. Except that’s not where the story ends.

Ever since Jack handed in his resignation, he’s taken on more responsibility and become more assertive. His colleagues tell me how he’s been helping to deliver more value to the organisation in the last 20 days than he has ever done in the past 10 years. Intrigued by this mysterious twist in the plot, I call Jack.

‘I’m not sure what’s happened really,’ says Jack. ‘The day after I handed in my resignation, I had an epiphany. You know I’m not a religious bloke. I just figured out that, instead of ekeing out my existence during my notice period, I would do what I’ve been meaning to do for a decade. A good job. By that I mean, make my voice heard. Share my ideas with people even if they’re a bit out there. After all, my boss can’t sack me anymore.’

Know Yourself

Stephen King says, ‘If you love what you do, you can do it forever.’ First you need to know what it is you love doing. Then find out what makes it so lovable. Richard Bolles, author of ‘What Colour is Your Parachute’, outlines an exercise in his book for coming up with your ideal job profile (aka job description). They are:

1. Your favourite interests
2. Geography – where you like to work (venue and location)
3. Your favourite people and environments
4. Your favourite values and goals
5. Your favourite working conditions
6. Salary and level of responsibility
7. Your top 6 favourite skills.

It’s up to you how much time you invest on completing the job description. I remember it took me a total of 5 hours one fateful weekend all that time ago. Once you’ve got your ideal job description, you’re ready to go job shopping.

Remember how much you enjoyed shopping for that gadget or picnic basket? And how was that possible? Because you’d somehow distilled (implicitly or explicitly) the key attributes of what it was you needed to achieve your goals. As Paul Arden said, ‘Without having a goal, it’s hard to score.’

Love the Job You’re In

Now imagine this. You’ve identified your goal. And you’ve got your dream job description. Ask yourself these 4 questions:

• What would happen if you got what you wanted?
• What wouldn’t happen if you got what you wanted?
• What would happen if you didn’t get what you wanted?
• What wouldn’t happen if you didn’t get what you wanted?

Answering these questions might be a challenge, but they really make you think. The questions force you to question why you want what you want and this, in turn, helps you refine your goal and your strategy to do what you need to achieve that goal.

The Neverending Story

On 11 February 2010 at 12.15 precisely, Jack calls me with some news. It turns out that, having seen his remarkable contribution in the past 4 weeks, Jack’s boss has asked him to stay and offered him a package that exceeds his other job offer. And that, dear Reader, is where our story ends. But not Jack’s. And what of your story?

Yesterday, as night falls, I finally make it to Edinburgh castle. We knock, but nobody’s home. It’s my third visit to Edinburgh and I still haven’t seen the inside of the castle. I’ve been wanting to visit because I hear it’s a great place with lots to see, do and learn.

Up, Down and Around

Little did I suspect that what began as a casual evening walk to the nearest pub would turn out to be one of the best tours of Edinburgh. ‘We can go this way if you don’t mind climbing a slope,’ says Mark, the Agile Insider. ‘It’s going to be steep,’ he repeats. ‘No problem,’ I reply. ‘I love going for walks!’ As it turns out, the slope was steeper than I expected, and when I finally catch my breath, the sight of the towering buildings that make up Edinburgh Castle takes my breath away once again.

When you really want something, you’ll always find a way

The philosopher Seneca said, ‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.’ Take my stumbing upon the castle as though by chance. It fits Seneca’s saying beautifully.

For the past couple of weeks, the Agile Insider has been scouting out the area while touring Edinburgh for himself. Then last night, we decided to meet up and go for a pint. Once the Agile Insider realised that we both enjoyed going for walks, we extended the walk a bit more. After all, our goal was to catch up and it didn’t much matter if we were sat in the warmth of a pub or tramping out and about in the cold. And since the climbing pace was comfortable we extended the walk a bit further still until - lo and behold - I found myself in front of the castle!

Luck is Yours to Make

Next time, I’m going to plan my visit to the castle. I’m going to phone ahead to make sure someone will be in. May be we can even have tea with the Queen if I bring some biscuits. How are you going to capture the castle?

Agile Apprentice: Why do I always feel so afraid?
Agile Coach: Fear helps us live and breathe.
Agile Apprentice: I’m sick and tired of feeling afraid.
Agile Coach: Fear keeps us alive.

If We Don’t Speak of Vital Things

Life’s about Balance. Balance, by its very nature, is constant.  Like treading water in order to stay afloat, we need to constantly work at maintaining that balance. Why? Because things change. Because People change.

Embrace Uncertainty

One Agile adage is ‘Embrace Uncertainty’. Like it or lump it, Uncertainty pervades our lives. Most of us have a tendency to make decisions too early. For fear of Uncertainty. For fear of looking indecisive. For fear of looking the fool.

One way of making the most of Uncertainty is by postponing making decisions until the last responsible moment. The trick is to know when you have to make the decision. Given a deadline and the time it takes to execute an action, we can use Real Options Thinking to identify a decision point, the point at which a decision needs to be made. Why do this? To buy us more time so that we can gather more information. Why gather more information? Because more information leads to better informed decisions which, in turn, produce better results.

First Accept Impermanence

Before we can truly embrace Uncertainty, we need to first accept the Impermanence of Life. Things that exist today may not exist tomorrow. Accepting the impermanence in life provides a healthy perspective on Now. Instead of being stuck in a perpetual Blame Game, ask yourself ‘What can I do right now to change? How can I make things better (instead of worse) now?’

Resolve to Change For the Better

Be courageous! Make the most of Now by using The Responsibility Model to transition yourself from Denial -> Blame -> Justification -> Shame -> Obligation -> Responsibility.

Be mindful! Make better decisions Now and in the Future using Real Options Thinking. A Real Option is where Value > Cost. A Stupid Option is one where Value < Cost. Doing nothing is also always an option. The key is to take responsibility for your decisions by conscious decision making.

Be full of heart! Always practice the Agile Values of Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage, Respect, Trust and Transparency to create more happiness for everyone to share. After all, none of us exist in isolation. Everything we do has a cause and effect that impacts others and, ultimately, ourselves.

Dear, oh, dear. It’d been a dreary past few days as the final traces of pristine Snow White was replaced by its cousin Grey Slush. The rumour of Winter Blues had turned into tabloid fact. Nothing was going to be able to shift this slippery muck of seasonal gloom. Nothing? Really?

Until this morning that is. Yes. The snow is back! The dusting of snow reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague in Boston last week.

How much snow have you got?

‘Happy New Year! We’ve got at least three inches of snow!’ I said. ‘Happy New Year to you, too! We’ve got six inches,’  John said. It suddenly dawned on me that the novelty of snow depended on who you are, where you grew up and where you are now. I remember feeling a fleeting sense of foolishness at what must have seemed like much ado about nothing. After all, Boston had six inches of snow and London only had three. I brushed the thought aside. We had snow in London and that was what mattered to me most. Or was it?

Life as a Competition

All the time I’d been growing up, I’d believed that life was a competition. Not just any competition. It was a competition against other people. To be the winner, there had to be losers. That was just the way things worked. The fact was there were plenty of children bigger, smarter, faster than me. Just like there are plenty of adults bigger, smarter, faster than me now.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been trying to make sense of the Game of Life and the myth that ‘To be the winner, there had to be losers’. I could see how competition can drive things forward, help us achieve things we never thought we could, so competition in itself is not a bad thing. Yet the rule of having a winnner and losers still didn’t make sense. More recently I observed that ‘I am my own biggest impediment’. Don’t you sometimes just hate being right? As I thought more and more about this assertion, I realised it wasn’t the answer to the conundrum either.

What Lies Within

As I peer through the flickering curtain of snow, another thought light as a snowflake forms in the snowdome of my mind. It’s never been about me and the others. The invisible rule to the Game of Life is this. There is no other. You are both the winner and the loser. You are competing with yourself.

Two snowmen are standing in a field.
One says to the other, ‘Can you smell carrots?’

Out in the Field

Imagine. You wake up. It’s Friday. It’s almost the weekend. The first thing you see is a blanket of bright white snow. With a deep breath, you take in the tranquil setting. You feel quietly envigorated. A thought light as a snowflake forms in the snowdome of your mind. Yes. Today’s the day. Today marks a fresh start. A new beginning.

And the thought? It is this: ‘I can be better than I was yesterday.’ This thought always takes me back to the Agile Values. Seven simple words. Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage, Respect, Trust and Transparency. How many of us know these words by heart? Words that trip off the tongue so smoothly when times are good? Those same seven words that become a thorn in our side when we come under pressure, leaving us deflated?

Thinking, Being and Doing

In Agile, Retrospectives are a good way to take time out and reflect. To have a good root around our minds to make sense of what we have done, what has come to pass and what we intend to do going forward. It’s a chance for others to show you what you cannot see for yourself. It’s an opportunity for putting those seven values into practice.

And what about the actions we can take to improve? We don’t have to wait for snow. We don’t even have to wait for a new day or  a new year. The moment is Now.

If snow makes you think, here’s a collection of entries featuring the white stuff in various guises:

• A Wintry Summer’s Day – Expect the Unexpected to increase your number of options
• Life in the Cold - First Contact with Finns in Finland
• Snow Joke – Quality as a matter of personal pride
• Winter Wonderland – The KISS principle for adults
• A Winter’s Tale – The Gift of the Present
• An Agilist for All Seasons – Be prepared! in order to turn obstacles into challenges 

Wrap up warm! You don’t want to catch a chill.

The snow arrived in London several hours later than predicted and by bedtime last night, many of the suburban roads were covered, including some sleeping policemen. The good news is that London has been transformed, yet again, into a place of beauty, with all its carbuncles and pimples smoothed over by Nature’s white collagen.

London’s Learning

The better news is that London’s learning. This second time around we managed to stock up enough grit, mobilised the various gritting units in time and by early evening last night, most of the roads were gritted, to the relief of drivers and pedestrians alike. There’s also enough food in my cupboard in case of a snow-in.

Prepare to Enjoy!

The result? We can enjoy the snow this time around instead of seeing it as an impediment or disaster. A classic example of the Girl Scouts’ motto in action: ‘Be prepared!’ – intended to be an instruction, warning and wake-up call. By being prepared, we can turn obstacles into challenges, adversity into opportunity, strife into collaborative achievement. The trick is to train hard and ‘Be prepared!’ What do you do to keep your tools sharp and varied?

Do you love what you do?

Percy: Do you think it’s possible to do what you love and get paid for it?
Agile Coach: Of course.
Percy: But work’s just work. You show up then you go home.
Agile Coach: What do you do inbetween?
Percy: You get on with stuff. It’s madness to think people could do a job they love!
Agile Coach: I think it’s madness to do otherwise.

Worthwhile Work

I’m inspired by a vision of people making the most of their time at work. By this, I mean transforming the workplace into a place where people get excited about being there, are fully engaged and are thoroughly enjoying themselves. And, of course, we always strive to work a sustainable pace.

Why? Because we each of us spend around 75% of our waking hours doing something work-related or being at work. That’s a lot of time to simply fritter away. What an awful waste of life! Imagine all the other things you could be doing instead.

Now if you were to enjoy yourself during those hours, think of the things you and your team could achieve. Think of the possibilities! And since we spend the majority of our lives doing something work-related or being at work, it follows that a fulfilling work life leads to a happier life. This is my inner quest.

The light’s on, but is anybody home?

According to Lynda Gratton, author of Glow, Each of us can make a real difference through our behaviour, competencies and skills. Linda defines ‘Glow’ as people ‘radiating positive energy – [are] able to excite and ignite others and through their inspiration and innovation are able to create superior value and success in the workplace’.

People who Glow, according to Lynda’s research, are those who have mastered 3 distinct areas of their life:

• They Glow because they have built deeply trusting and cooperating relationships with others.
• They Glow because they have extended their networks beyond the obvious to encompass the unsual.
• They Glow because they are on an inner quest that ignites their own energy and that of others.

People who Glow also understand what they have to do in 3 different contexts: as an individual, as a team member and as a member of an organisation that encourages them to Glow.

Now that you’ve packed away the Christmas lights, isn’t it your time to Glow?

I feel under the weather. May be it’s just a passing chill I’ve caught. Truth be told, I’ve not been feeling my usual cheery self of late. I just don’t feel right.

But that’s enough about me. How have you been? How are you feeling? May be you’re a bit fed up with it all. Are there times when you wish you had more money? Or may be you dream of being revered by the masses? Perhaps you wish you could hide the signs of ageing? If your answer is ‘Yes’ to at least one of these 3 questions, then I have some bad news. You may have contracted Affluenza, the nastiest of viruses to be sweeping the English-speaking world. Don’t worry though. We have plenty for company.

A Society Under the Weather?

According to Oliver James, author of Affluenza, the Affluenza virus is defined by a pre-occupation with money. The Affluenza virus values consist of Money, Possession, Physical and Social Appearances and Fame. The virus is the product ‘Selfish Capitalism’ and leads to emotional distress such as anxiety and depression. This emotional distress, in true consumerism ‘Compete-by-Eating-Your-Own-Convenience’ style, further feeds your hunger for Selfish Capitalism. Selfish Capitalism, in turn, magnifies your preoccupation with the virus values. And hey presto! That’s how this vicious cycle keeps going and growing.

But wait! Before you despair because you’ve been lying awake at night wondering why you’ve been feeling so glum about life as you know it, there’s Hope.

Be Brave, Be Bold

Hope comes in the form of returning to the basics. It’s about addressing everyman’s fundamental needs to lead a fulfilling life.

• Feel secure. About who you are and what you have.
• Be authentic. Be yourself and be true to yourself.
• Be autonomous. Do what you love. And do more of it – even if it means you go solo.
• Feel competent. Have confidence in your own abilities. Get in the practice to help that confidence grow.
• Be part of a community. Participate and contribute. Have fun in great company.

Vaccines

Oliver James recommends the following:

1. Have positive volition (not ‘Think Positive’)
2. Replace Virus Motives (with intrinsic ones)
3. Be Beautiful (not attractive)
4. Consume what you need (not what the advertisers tell you)
5. Meet your children’s needs (not those of little adults)
6. Educate your children (don’t brainwash them)
7. Enjoy motherhood (not desperate housewifery/husbandry)
8. But authentic (not sincere), vivacious (not hyperactive) and playful (not game-playing)

Antidotes

If, like me, you’re one of the infected, you need to act fast. Get lots of fresh air. Do more physical exercise. Burn off as many calories as you consume. Do at least one thing you love every day. And, as a friend just reminded me, take stock of all that you have and be thankful for such riches.

How will you transform this winter’s discontent? What will you do to make yours a life less ordinary? Make 2010 a Happy New Year!